With the recent closure of the Borders and Angus & Robertsons book shop chains in Melbourne, it had been feared that the demise of all book shops was imminent.
Not so, says a rece
nt Age newspaper article: Bookstores without Borders find life not so bad. While there are certainly the challenges of eBooks and online sales to contend with, several of the book shop owners mention in this article contend that book lovers seem to be rallying around their local book shops.
Commenting on sales, Chris Redfern, of the Avenue book shop in Albert Park, says that sales are up 5% since July – an encouraging sign.
Matt Boyle of Benn’s Books in Bentleigh similiarly commented:
”Since the collapse of those two chains, people have been coming in saying they are glad we are still here, so there is still a future for bricks-and-mortar bookselling,” he said.
